"Charlie's not your conventional mathematician... we sexed him up a little bit"
About this Quote
A network-friendly euphemism is doing a lot of work here. When David Krumholtz says, "Charlie's not your conventional mathematician... we sexed him up a little bit", he is casually admitting to one of TV's oldest anxieties: the fear that pure expertise reads as unfilmable. Math, in the popular imagination, still carries the baggage of the shut-in genius, socially awkward, visually uninteresting, narratively inert. The line is a wink at that stereotype, but also a confession that the show needed to negotiate with it.
The intent is practical and promotional. Krumholtz is selling a character (and a series) by translating "mathematician" into something that fits the grammar of prime-time drama: charisma, romantic viability, a body that exists in the frame as more than a vehicle for exposition. "Sexed up" isn't only about making Charlie attractive; it's about making his intelligence legible as power rather than insulation. It reassures viewers that the math won't be a lecture and that the protagonist won't be punished for being brainy.
The subtext is trickier: it suggests that "conventional" mathematicians are, by default, desexualized, and that the only way to make them culturally consumable is to add heat and edge like seasoning. It's Hollywood's soft patronization of intellectual labor, packaged as self-aware humor. In the context of early-2000s TV, it also reflects a broader trend: turning specialized competence into a kind of lifestyle branding, where brilliance is acceptable as long as it comes with swagger.
The intent is practical and promotional. Krumholtz is selling a character (and a series) by translating "mathematician" into something that fits the grammar of prime-time drama: charisma, romantic viability, a body that exists in the frame as more than a vehicle for exposition. "Sexed up" isn't only about making Charlie attractive; it's about making his intelligence legible as power rather than insulation. It reassures viewers that the math won't be a lecture and that the protagonist won't be punished for being brainy.
The subtext is trickier: it suggests that "conventional" mathematicians are, by default, desexualized, and that the only way to make them culturally consumable is to add heat and edge like seasoning. It's Hollywood's soft patronization of intellectual labor, packaged as self-aware humor. In the context of early-2000s TV, it also reflects a broader trend: turning specialized competence into a kind of lifestyle branding, where brilliance is acceptable as long as it comes with swagger.
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